MIAMI -- Pat Riley is again the coach of the Miami Heat, replacing Stan Van Gundy following his resignation Monday for family reasons.

Riley, whom Van Gundy succeeded on the bench shortly before the 2003-04 season, will make his debut Tuesday night when Miami opens a four-game road trip in Chicago.

"I will get back into this quickly," said Riley, the 60-year-old team president. He said he hasn't even looked at a playbook for two years.

Riley coached the team from 1995-03 after winning four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and a stint with the New York Knicks.

Players were not available for immediate comment. The team left for Chicago on Monday, shortly before the news conference announcing the shake-up and learning of Van Gundy's decision.

Van Gundy said he resigned voluntarily.

"I made this decision for one reason and one reason only: I love my family," Van Gundy said. He said that because of travel, games and practices, he would have seen his children at home only 49 days out of 170 this season.

"That's just not enough any more for me. It's just not enough," Van Gundy said. "I mean, it's been like that for my kids' entire lives. I've got a 14-year-old daughter and it started to hit me when I started thinking about her birthday, which was last month. I've got four more years left with her. Four. And then she'll be off to college and I'm just not willing to sacrifice any more of those four more years."

Riley's eyes welled with tears as Van Gundy announced the reasons for his decision. Van Gundy said Riley has tried for weeks to persuade him to stay.

"It came down to a choice, and for me, the choice was clear," Van Gundy said.

He said he will remain in the organization, and insisted he had no desire to coach elsewhere in the NBA.

Van Gundy's job status was the subject of speculation in South Florida for months, starting when Riley -- his mentor -- said shortly after the Heat's 2005 playoff run ended that he may take a larger role in the team's day-to-day operations.

That comment, which seemed innocuous at the time, set off speculation that Riley was planning to dismiss Van Gundy and take over a team with two of the NBA's biggest stars, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, in his quest to bring the Heat their first title.

This year, the team was in first place but with only a 11-10 record, although without O'Neal for 18 of those games because the 12-time All-Star had a badly sprained right ankle. Rumors that Van Gundy's job may be in jeopardy continued to swirl. But Van Gundy insisted Monday his relationship with Riley has never been better.

The 46-year-old Van Gundy left with a regular-season record of 112-73. Riley has won 1,110 games in 21 seasons as a coach, plus led the "Showtime" Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. He also coached the Knicks (1991-95).

Van Gundy was Riley's top assistant for eight seasons, getting the top job shortly before the 2003-04 campaign when Riley walked into his office unexpectedly and told him he was stepping aside.

And now, in a move perhaps not so unexpected but certainly just as sudden, Van Gundy is gone, hours after leading the Heat to an overtime win over Washington on Sunday night.

The move came nearly four years to the day after Jeff Van Gundy, Stan's younger brother, resigned as Knicks coach 19 games into the 2001-02 season. Jeff Van Gundy, now the Houston Rockets coach, said at the time he'd lost his focus and thought about quitting since that summer.

"The question I've always had for him is 'why did you go back,' " Stan Van Gundy said.

Through a Rockets' spokesman, Jeff Van Gundy declined comment Monday.

Before coming to the Heat, Van Gundy had college stints at Vermont, Castleton State, Canisius, Fordham, Massachusetts-Lowell and Wisconsin. When Riley joined the Heat, Van Gundy came with him -- in large part because his brother was under contract to the Knicks and couldn't stay on Riley's staff.

His first season as head coach didn't get off to a good start, with the Heat losing Van Gundy's first seven games. But with Wade leading a talented nucleus of young players, Miami finished that season 42-40 and as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

That summer, Riley sent three players to Los Angeles for O'Neal -- part of three championships with the Lakers. Van Gundy coached the Heat to a second consecutive season of a 17-win improvement, getting them to 59-23 and guiding them to the Southeast Division title and to the East finals.

Riley went to Los Angeles on a recent road trip for three reasons, two being to visit a hip replacement clinic and for a meeting with city commissioners in Malibu to gain approval for a home he plans to build.

The third reason, he said, was a final pitch designed to keep the coach. But he couldn't change Van Gundy's mind.

"I have an obligation to this franchise and to Micky," Riley said, referring to team owner Micky Arison. "I am going to definitely put off my hip replacement surgery, without a doubt."

Van Gundy was forced out by the vulterous vampire, Pat Riley, who's ego wont rest until he gets ONE MORE championship ring. GOD, i hate Pat Riley. He was last generation's Phil Jackson: a barely above average coach who got league-changing superstars dropped into his lap, hence his good reputation. Pat Riley is a punk and I hope Miami goes 0-15 in his first month back, prompting Riley to hire back Van Gundy. Pat Riley is nothing.

I have to respectfully disagree. An obvious case can be made for Riley being a good coach, but I think he's just the luckiest. Firstly, ANY coach who had Magic and Kareem on the same squad was gonna get a handful of rings. It's just that simple. After that, he took an already dangerous New York Knick squad (who would have arguably gotten to the Finals without him) and didn't even win the ring. Moving on, he had a couple good seasons in Miami, but ducked out of the building and hid his face when the team fell apart. Now that they are basically a shoe-in to win the championship this year (really, only Detroit and San Antonio stand in their way), Riley "magically comes out of retirement" to lead the Heat to the ring (after, of course, Van Gundy developed Wade into a star... and Dwayne Wade is a HUGE reason that they are so great right now). I'm sorry, but Riley seems like a vulture to me. He hasn't proven yet that he can take a team who doesn't have what it takes and improve them. So far, he's just a warm body on the bench watching a roster of superstars do their thing. That doesn't impress me. Phil Jackson did the same thing and now, this season, when he finally doesn't have a stacked roster to deal with, his true skill comes out in leading the Lakers to LAST PLACE of the Pacific Division. Pat Riley is the same guy, but a generation up. If he didn't have superstars at his disposal, his accomplishments would add up to zip.

TMC wrote:It depends on how you view it. It can also be argued that no coach can win with a talentless roster. Just watch what Larry is going through in New York this year.

Larry Brown is a rebuilding coach, though! He puts teams back on the map, but to assume any coach can come into any situation and improve a team immediately is just wrong! I, like many others, believe that the Knicks will improve under Brown... but it wont be visible this year.

TMC wrote:So, he must have some skills if he won rings with the Lakers and was succesful with the Knicks and Heat.

It doesn't take a genius to let Magic and Kareem run the show and improve everyone on their squad. Kareem had the same sort of inside presence that Shaq does... it improves players by leaving them opened, combined with Magic's ability to make EVERYTHING on the floor better except his opposition. That team could have won without a coach all together. And I'd hardly call his run with the Knicks succesfull. He took a team and kept them exactly where they were at previously. Nothing special. In Miami, he had a couple good season (not GREAT, but good) and, ultimately, ran off when things didn't go his way. Now he's back when there are other stars to run the show (ala his Laker days). I just don't respect a guy that doesn't bring anything to the team when he's on the bench.

I watched his interview on ESPN yesterday and he was basically saying, "I have a loyalty to the team that I signed, traded for, and drafted."

Oh yes, Pat, YOU built this championship squad in the background, so now YOU deserve a ring as a coach to make up for your failures in Miami previously, right? It makes me sick.

The Lakers were going to be successful anyway yes, but as far the Knicks - Pat Riley took over 190-91 and the Knicks improved that year with practically the same sort of team, they were disgraceful before Riley arrived and within 3 years he took them to the East Finals and they finished the regular season with the best record in the East, better than the Bulls! He did make the Knicks better! He is a good coach, he just likes to be the dominator and that is repulsive

That team had a horrible roster of non athletes but Riley saw that the only way for them to win was to play hard and rough, sort of dirty and they did win like that. I'll take the syle of the showtime Lakers any time but it shows that Riley knows how to see things

Horrible roster? They had the star center in Ewing, the best blue collar player in the league (Oakley), the 2ND best blue collar in fellow workhorse (who, by the way, also developed an offensive touch) Anthony Mason, outside shooter John Starks (who could come up big some nights), and a very capable bench! Keep in mind these players may not seem so attractive today, but they were IN THEIR PRIME here! This was a totally Finals-worthy squad... and, yet, Riley couldn't improve them from what they were aleady capable of being!

And, migya, your last comment ALONE proves my point! The sheer fact that the Knicks, Lakers, and Heat all play differently to such a huge extreme is not due to the fact that he plays to his player's styles or anything stupid like that; he just lets them run wild out there! Riley's practices include: sprints, defense, sprints, defense, defense, sprints, sprints, sprints, sprints. He's a f*cking track & field coach, not a basketball coach!

Pat Riley's record may look impressive, but it's misleading. A closer eye detects the many gifts Riley's been handed throughout his NBA career. If Pat was given the job of, say, Rick Pitino for the Celtics in the 90's, he'd be just as big a failure. He can't coach anything but superstars (who don't need anything but fine tuning to begin with). He won't create new stars or nurture the young players. Under Riley, only proven vet's get the lion share of playing time (vet's that, most likely, he didn't develop). One guy was brought up in a Riley system: Magic Johnson (who was going to be great anyway). Pat Riley is a fake, a joke, a scam, and a vulture. I see no reason to praise HIM, of all people, for anything that happens for the Heat this season or next.

#32 wrote:He can't coach anything but superstars (who don't need anything but fine tuning to begin with). He won't create new stars or nurture the young players. Under Riley, only proven vet's get the lion share of playing time (vet's that, most likely, he didn't develop). One guy was brought up in a Riley system: Magic Johnson (who was going to be great anyway).

I have him in a higher regard than you, but I agree with this. Rookies always seem to have a hard time with him. But it's not only him, a lot of coaches who focus on defense, like Larry Brown, work that way.